Ezekiel 14:12-20
Summary for Ezek 14:12-20: 14:12-20 a Israel had not been unjustly singled out for judgment. If any country were to sin against the Lord, the result would be the same. It is clear that Israel is in view here, however, because the language used to describe their sin is used elsewhere to describe a breach in Israel’s covenant relationship with the Lord. The covenant was broken, so the nation would inevitably and justly experience the covenant curses that they had ratified at the time the covenant was first made (Lev 26 b).• The covenant curses are itemized in four test cases. Each case envisions one of the curses listed in Lev 26 c: famine (Ezek 14:13-14 d; see Lev 26:26 e), wild animals (Ezek 14:15-16 f; see Lev 26:22 g), war (Ezek 14:17-18 h; see Lev 26:25 i), and disease (Ezek 14:19-20 j; see Lev 26:25 k).
14:14 l Noah, Daniel, and Job: Each of these men was famous for standing firm in the midst of a wicked generation. If anyone could merit a stay of judgment from God, they could. However, even if a land contained these three outstanding men of God, their righteousness would not suffice to save even their closest relatives from the coming disaster (14:20 m). How much less would it save a rebellious country!
• Since the Hebrew spelling of the name Daniel (Hebrew Dani’el; also in 28:3 n) is slightly different from that of the biblical prophet Daniel (Hebrew Daniyye’l), who was Ezekiel’s younger contemporary in Babylon, some have proposed that Ezekiel was referring to a legendary pagan hero named Danel. However, minor variations in the spelling of names are common in the Hebrew Old Testament. Ezekiel and his hearers would certainly have known of the biblical prophet Daniel as a model of righteousness and wisdom. It is unlikely that a prophet as radically outspoken against idolatry as Ezekiel would have picked a pagan figure like Danel to represent unparalleled righteousness and wisdom. So Ezekiel is most likely referring to the prophet Daniel.
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